And before I knew it, it is the mid-sem break. Where did the time go?? For this break, I spent the 10 days on a whirlwind trip through Germany, Netherlands and Belgium
We didn't know the accommodation in Hamburg would be so limited and demand so high. So as every first year economics student would know, lack of supply with excessive demand will move the price upwards. To unacceptable values for us. Especially considering how expensive Amsterdam and Brussels already were. So we decided to try out a new and unfamiliar concept (for me at least...although we were all virgins when it came to it): Couch-Surfing.
We arrived in Hamburg sans one third of our travelling group: Amanda had not received her Eurail ticket on time because the delivery guy came to her dorm during the two hours of the day when she was in class. She arrived in the evening when she arranged for her ticket to be delivered again. Unfortunately, then she realised that she had been sent the wrong ticket for the region of Austria instead of Benelux which is where we were going. You could tell she was very stressed about it all, but she put on a brave face and forced a laugh at her misfortunes. That's such an admirable quality of her.
As mentioned above, we were all virgins when it came to couch-surfing, so the fact that the host took us out for the two nights we stayed over was quite a shock to me. Especially the first night when he took us to trivia at an Irish Pub (the topic was on the most famous German movie made, The Boat). You can smoke inside pubs in Germany. The smoke was so strong that my chest hurt from breathing all that carcinogenic air. I really felt like I lost a few years of my life that day.
There isn't such a thing as a free lunch, but if I'm putting my comfort and health at risk in exchange for free accommodation, then I'd rather pay a grossly inflated price for a hostel. Not to mention, after sightseeing the whole day, I'd rather have an early night in, especially if I have to get up early the next day to catch an early train. So yes, couch-surfing was an interesting experience, and I don't particularly regret having done it, but it's not terrain I'm eager to explore again any time soon.
We didn't know the accommodation in Hamburg would be so limited and demand so high. So as every first year economics student would know, lack of supply with excessive demand will move the price upwards. To unacceptable values for us. Especially considering how expensive Amsterdam and Brussels already were. So we decided to try out a new and unfamiliar concept (for me at least...although we were all virgins when it came to it): Couch-Surfing.
We arrived in Hamburg sans one third of our travelling group: Amanda had not received her Eurail ticket on time because the delivery guy came to her dorm during the two hours of the day when she was in class. She arrived in the evening when she arranged for her ticket to be delivered again. Unfortunately, then she realised that she had been sent the wrong ticket for the region of Austria instead of Benelux which is where we were going. You could tell she was very stressed about it all, but she put on a brave face and forced a laugh at her misfortunes. That's such an admirable quality of her.
As mentioned above, we were all virgins when it came to couch-surfing, so the fact that the host took us out for the two nights we stayed over was quite a shock to me. Especially the first night when he took us to trivia at an Irish Pub (the topic was on the most famous German movie made, The Boat). You can smoke inside pubs in Germany. The smoke was so strong that my chest hurt from breathing all that carcinogenic air. I really felt like I lost a few years of my life that day.
There isn't such a thing as a free lunch, but if I'm putting my comfort and health at risk in exchange for free accommodation, then I'd rather pay a grossly inflated price for a hostel. Not to mention, after sightseeing the whole day, I'd rather have an early night in, especially if I have to get up early the next day to catch an early train. So yes, couch-surfing was an interesting experience, and I don't particularly regret having done it, but it's not terrain I'm eager to explore again any time soon.
Hamburger scenery: a bench in the Inner Alster; funky building; funny advertisement
Hamburger food: potato pancakes with apple sauce and currywurst
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